AUSTRALIA: The Puppeteer (The Puppets of Washington Book 2)

Chapter 9

Chapter 9Fred closed the folder. He slammed it on his desk and pressed a digit on the intercom. “Jimmy. Get Agent Gilford in my office a-sap, will you?”

“Yes, sir, right away,” was Jimmy’s automatic answer. Then, “But, sir, I think he’s on leave...”

“I don’t care if he’s on the moon; I want him in my office NOW!” Fred let go of the digit on the intercom and leaned back in his chair. On second thought, he called Jimmy again. “And get Mr. Badawee in here as well, as soon as he’s free.”

“Yes, sir...,” Jimmy replied, thinking, he’s in one of his rotten moods again.

Namlah Badawee was the first to trot in Fred’s office. “What’s up, Chief?” Namlah asked, taking a seat opposite Fred’s desk.

“Your reports; that’s what’s up, Counselor. I’ve been through every one of them, and that’s old dirt as far as I can see. The only guy I’d like to get between four eyes right now is that Hans Swartz. He’s worthy of wearing a swastika on his forehead. But apart from that, I couldn’t see how we could establish a link between him and Ms. Kartz at this juncture.”

Namlah caressed his mustache without looking at the chief. “I don’t think finding a link between Ms. Kartz and any of these people at this point is as important as finding out what these men are up to at present.”

Fred obviously didn’t like that answer for he said, “And how do we prove that Ms. Kartz has been meddling in any of these guy’s affairs and now being the subject of his revenge if we can’t link these buggers to her? Answer me that, Counselor!”

Namlah shifted in his chair uncomfortably. “We don’t have to establish a link between Ms. Kartz and these fellows today, Chief. Actually, it would be better for Ms. Kartz if she weren’t involved with these men at the moment.”

“Okay, Mr. Badawee, I know it’s a bit early in the morning and I might not be fully awake yet, but why are you saying this now? I thought we were trying to establish a connection between these people and Ms. Kartz to demonstrate that she had stumbled on something she wasn’t supposed to...”

Namlah shook his head. “No, Chief, because if we prove a connection between her and any of these men today, it would probably demonstrate that Ms. Kartz is the traitor she’s suspected to be.”

Fred had to think about that one for a minute. “Are you saying that her connection with any of these guys could play against her?”

“Yes, Chief, that’s exactly what I’m saying.”

“Do you still think that any of these guys is the puppeteer or are we chasing our tails on this one?”

“It’s a possibility, yes. But we began investigating these men based on the premise that Ms. Kartz and Samuel had been sent to Australia because that’s where Mossad thinks the puppeteer is located. We also thought that vengeance was the underlying cause for the man’s action. Yet, when I began reviewing the actions of this puppeteer in recent months, I started to think that we, together with Ms. Kartz and Agent Meshullam have been sent away on a wild goose chase—we’ve been steered away from the problem.”

“Okay, let me get this straight. You’re saying that sending Talya and Samuel to Australia was to divert our attention from the real mine field?”

“Yes, Chief. You see, when reviewing all that’s been happening in the past two years, it became apparent that moving, shall we say interested parties away from the scene of the action, has been our puppeteer’s modus operandi.”

“But that would mean that our Agent Lypsick is still working with this guy. He’s the one who’s been leading everyone down the garden path...”

“Absolutely!” Namlah burst out. “He’s been leading us to believe that Mr. Sadir was the instigator behind the murders. Then, he vanished and Deputy Director Van Dams is killed in front of his office. Last, he maneuvers his way in having both Ms. Kartz and Agent Meshullam removed to Australia.”

“Not to forget that he was about to have Ms. Kartz arrested in Vancouver and extradited to Florida on trumped up charges of killing one of the CIA’s undercover agents,” Fred added.

The door of the chief’s office swung open at that moment to let Mark walk in. “Okay, Chief, what’s so urgent that I couldn’t even grab a coffee before leaving the house?”

“Good morning, Agent Gilford,” Namlah said, turning his smiling face to Mark. The latter nodded in reply and plopped himself in the seat next to the lawyer.

“I tell you what so urgent, Mark, but first I’d like to point out that although you’re on leave, you’re not on holiday—we’re never on holidays in this office—do you understand what I am saying?”

Alright, Mark thought, this is not going to be good. “Yes, sir, I do, sir. Do you want me to stand at attention, too?”

Khalid’s jocularity rubbed Fred the wrong way, obviously. “I’m not going to go any further down this path with you, Gilford.” Fred grunted. “Okay, Mr. Badawee has been working on retracing the steps of several fellows in Australia...”

“You mean I’m going Downunder?”

“Not so fast, boy. You may be going there at some point but you’ll do well to listen to what I’ve got to say, before you pack your toothbrush.” Mark straightened up and appeared to brace himself to the back of the chair for the news. “The fellows in question have been in some way connected to Talya in the past—and I mean quite a few years ago—but they may have pursued their enterprises and may have even contributed in some ways to Talya (and Samuel) being suspected of treason.”

“But, Chief, why would these guys show up on our radar now?”

“If you would continue to listen instead of interrupting, you would know... Okay... These guys have not shown up on our radar as you say; we simply listed them as being involved with Talya in the past and we’re wondering if one of them could be our puppeteer.”

“Just because they’ve lived in Australia?”

“No, not just because they’ve lived in Australia, but because they were (or are) mixed up in questionable ventures when Talya was acquainted with them or worked for them.”

“But again, Chief, where or what would be the connection with Talya today?”

“I’m glad you asked that.” The chief leaned forward and placed his forearms on the desk. “There is no connection between these men and Talya today—and that’s the point!”

“Okay, Chief, shall I go out and come back again, because now you’ve lost me.”

Namlah smiled gently at Mark and moved his head from side to side. “Pardon me for interrupting, Chief, but I think I better explain to Agent Gilford what’s happening.”

Fred reclined to the back of his chair again. “Go ahead, Counselor, you’ve got the floor.”

Mark watched both men during this little exchange, more puzzled than ever.

“First, Agent Gilford, we wondered why Mossad was so keen on sending our two friends back to Australia in such a hurry—even before the defense had a chance to present its case. Then, we thought maybe Mossad was convinced that the puppeteer was in Australia and therefore we needed to find who could be connected to Ms. Kartz or Agent Meshullam that would awake suspicion against them. However, once I completed reviewing the dossier of each of these individuals, I began to ask myself again why sending our friends to Australia. And while I was reviewing the several cases that we’ve dealt with since this whole affair started, I realized that every time we came close to finding an answer to any of our questions during our various investigations, our collective attention was diverted elsewhere...”

“Same as when we were chasing Ishmael Assor—or Slimane at the time.”

“Precisely, Agent Gilford, precisely my point. As Chief Gibson said a moment ago”—he lifted his gaze to Fred—“we were led down the garden path.”

Mark remembered all too well the never-ending chase across the States that led him to kill two men, to being shot, and that landed Talya in a wheelchair for several months. Raising his eyes to meet the chief’s, he said, “Maybe Mossad sent Talya and Samuel to Sydney to prevent them from being caught up in this puppeteer’s games in the States again—protecting them from taking the fall somehow for something they haven’t done.”

“That’s an angle we should consider, of course,” Namlah said, “but then why choose Australia? Mossad could have sent them where they could really be protected, such as Canada or even Israel.”

Fred had been listening and switching his gaze from one man to the other. “I don’t think that was Mossad’s intent, Mark. They wanted Samuel and Talya where they could keep an eye on them without being put under scrutiny themselves and what’s more, I think they needed an excuse to keep them away from our eyes and ears while sending these two on a chase of their past.”

“Okay, Chief, I understand all that,” Mark said, “but even if I were to go Downunder and question Talya’s old acquaintances, it would simply amount to helping the CIA and the puppeteer in turn, to continue with whatever he’s planning on doing next.”

Namlah nodded. “And that’s probably what the CIA and Mossad expect us to do at this juncture.”

“Well then, gentlemen, I think we’ve got to plan something the CIA or Mossad does not expect and concentrate on finding this puppeteer ourselves, going in a totally unexpected direction than the one these guys wanted us to go.”